al-Adhkar lil-Nawawi
- Author died
- 676 AH
- Editions
- t al-Arnaut · t. Ibn Hazm · +1
al-Adhkar lil-Nawawi (formally titled Hilyat al-abrar wa-shi'ar al-akhyar fi talkhis al-da'awat wa-al-adhkar) is a manual of prophetic remembrances, supplications, and daily devotions compiled by the Shafi'i jurist and hadith scholar al-Nawawi (631–676 AH / 1233–1277 CE) .
Title and Purpose
The work is known under multiple variant titles in manuscripts and scholarly literature, including Hilyat al-abrar wa-shi'ar al-akhyar fi talkhis al-da'awat wa-al-adhkar, al-Adhkar al-Nawawiyyah, and al-Adhkar min ahadith al-mukhtar .
In his introduction, al-Nawawi explained that previous scholars had authored extensive books on day-and-night devotions ('amal al-yawm wa-al-laylah) and invocations, but these treatises were burdened with lengthy chains of transmission (isnads) and repetitive narrations, deterring ordinary worshippers . His objective was to provide an accessible handbook designed for practitioners, omitting the chains in most places while clarifying the texts, their practical applications, and their associated legal rulings .
Structure and Methodology
According to the bibliographer Hajji Khalifa, the work comprises 356 chapters in a single volume . It opens with introductory chapters outlining the virtues and etiquette of remembrance, sincere intention, and the use of weak hadiths in virtuous deeds . The material then follows the chronological course of daily human life from waking in the morning until sleeping at night, encompassing various lifetime occasions, travels, health, and sickness, and concludes with a chapter dedicated to seeking forgiveness (istighfar) .
Al-Nawawi relied primarily on five foundational collections of hadith: Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, and the Sunan of Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi, and al-Nasa'i . For reports concerning the recitation of the Quran, he drew upon Ibn Abi Dawud's Shari'at al-qari' . He committed to evaluating narrations as sound (sahih), fair (hasan), weak (da'if), or repudiated (munkar), though he occasionally relied on Abu Dawud's silence on a tradition as an indicator of its acceptability .
Reception
The book achieved wide circulation among scholars and the public, ranking alongside Riyad al-salihin as one of al-Nawawi's most popular works . Its widespread acclaim produced popular sayings such as "Sell your house and buy al-Adhkar" (bi' al-dar wa-shtar al-Adhkar) . It was celebrated in verse by later scholars such as Najm al-Din al-Ghayti and al-Shams al-Mawsili . The text was transmitted directly by al-Nawawi's student Ibn al-Attar, through whom subsequent chains of transmission passed .
Commentaries and Derivatives
Several scholars produced commentaries, hadith verifications, and abridgments of the work:
- Commentary: Muhammad ibn 'Allan al-Bakri al-Makki (d. 1057 AH) authored an extensive commentary titled al-Futuhat al-Rabbaniyyah 'ala al-Adhkar al-Nawawiyyah .
- Hadith Extraction (Takhrij): Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani conducted dictation sessions extracting and grading its narrations in Nata'ij al-afkar fi takhrij ahadith al-Adhkar, which his student al-Sakhawi continued after his death .
- Abridgments: Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti abridged the book under the title Adhkar al-adhkar, authored a commentary on that summary, and wrote marginal notes titled Tuhfat al-abrar bi-nukat al-Adhkar . Further abridgments were prepared by Shihab al-Din Ibn Raslan al-Ramli (d. 844 AH), al-Qastallani, al-Qalyubi, and Muhammad ibn 'Ali al-Baltaji (al-Anwar al-mudi'ah) .
- Marginalia and Translations: Ibn Tulun al-Dimashqi wrote notes titled Ithaf al-akhyar fi nukat al-Adhkar, and an anonymous Persian translation was completed in 776 AH .
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